Siaya Governor James Orengo has hatched a secret plot to have his deputy William Oduol impeached over alleged claims of “insubordination,” a plan that has now left the assembly divided.
Insiders in Orengo’s camp have revealed that the first term governor has tasked at least six MCAs from the six sub counties in Siaya to lobby their colleagues before they execute the motion.
Orengo
“The Governor has met the MCAs separately in a bid to cover up his trails and urged them to reach out to their colleagues. Those who have agreed with the plot are then advised to link up with Chief Finance Officer Jack Odinga for handsome payment,” the sources told Weekly Citizen in Siaya on Thursday.
One of the long serving MCAs from Alego Usonga constituency where Oduol hails has been reached out to back the planned motion with a promise to replace Oduol as the deputy Governor should they succeed in ousting him.
He has since been paid handsomely to push the impeachment plans and convince his kinsmen, majority of whom support Oduol, to back the ouster plans.
Already there are plans to summon Oduol to the assembly next week over his stance on corruption in Orengo’s administration, which he insists has taken root barely six Months after elections.
Sources in the Governor’s circles disclosed that the aim of the summon is to “scare the DG from being outspoken against corruption related issues in Siaya lest he faces the axe.”
But majority of MCAs who spoke to Weekly Citizen have argued that it is too early to think of an impeachment motion especially that touching on a senior officer like deputy Governor as it would derail service delivery in the county.
“Furthermore, we also feel that it will be a betrayal to our Azimio coalition and ODM party leader Raila Odinga’s course to focus on two battles at a time – impeachment of the deputy governor and protests against William Ruto,” an MCA from Ugunja Constituency who sought anonymity said.
The MCA noted that Raila is keen on unity of all his bases and instituting an impeachment motion against a deputy governor especially from his home county at the moment could be counterproductive.
Raila
“We are aware of the plans to summon the deputy governor and we are under pressure from the governor to kick him out but most of us are divided because we feel there is need for concerted efforts to help our party leader Raila Odinga in his bigger fight against the illegitimate Ruto government. We don’t want to divert Raila’s foot soldiers to such local wars,” added the MCA.
An official at the county Treasury office said the governor is concerned about Oduol’s stance against corruption at the devolved unit.
Another source revealed that Orengo recently remarked that he was not keen on picking Oduol as his running mate ahead of last year’s election but was compelled to do so because of his popularity across the county.
“Oduol first contested for the Siaya governor seat in 2013 and lost by a very slim margin which forced the court to nullify Cornel Rasanga’s election. It is due to this influence that Orengo argues he picked on Oduol as his second in command but would drop him soon after election. This impeachment plan could be a long time plot to fulfil this strategy.”
Rasanga
Orengo, the source added, has repeatedly stated to his close allies that he was done with Oduol immediately he was declared the winner last year.
Oduol is said to have given Orengo a head start in last year’s polls against former Rarieda MP Nicholas Gumbo who enjoyed massive support across the county having unsuccessfully contested in the 2017 election.
Gumbo
As Oduol now awaits the assembly summons next week, focus has now shifted to Siaya’s long serving Assembly Speaker George Okode.
“There are fears that Speaker Okode could side with governor Orengo to tame Oduol because he also harbours ambitions to become Siaya Governor having acted as Governor when the High court nullified Rasanga’s election in 2013.”
Being a native of Rarieda, Okode feels he jas a chance to be next Governor after Orengo because Alego, the greater Ugenya which includes Ugenya and Ugunja Constituencies have held the position.
Okode
There has been strained relationship between Orengo and his deputy in the past weeks.
Oduol has insisted that the county has become a haven of corruption, something that has emboldened his resolve to speak out for the sake of the masses.
He has also alleged that he was being targeted for protesting against plans to remove from the budget some key projects including construction of Siaya stadium, governor’s residence and tarmacking of Segere-Ogaso road in Alego Usonga constituency.
Weekly Citizen has since found out that already money has been allocated in the supplementary budget to have the three projects completed after Oduol’s outbursts.
On Tuesday, Orengo visited Industrial Area in Nairobi to check on the progress of the manufacturing of the Siaya County ultra-modern Stadium roof that he said is supposed to be installed in the next one month, a confirmation the project has been revived.
